What’s Shakin’?

This was quick and sharp, but it felt pretty violent, especially compared to the quake the other morning, which was more of a gentle, swaying motion.

But the weirdest thing was how my dog, Ferris, who has been sleeping under my desk all day, jumped up and started barking like crazy about two minutes before the shaking started. Could be coincidence, but interesting anyway.

Huh. She just started whining and looking around. Maybe we’re in for an aftershock.

Hey! Maybe I can get Paul Moyers to come do an in-depth feature story on my magical earthquake-predicting dog!

Earthquake prediction, or did someone just mention my name? That seems to get her going, too. Could one then extrapolate that the mere mention of my name carries the power of a verbal earthquake? Awesome!

While dogs are smart (mine is absolutely BRILLIANT, naturally), its more likely that, rather than being psychic, they’re just more sensitive to movement and can feel the P wave coming before we do. Also, if you think about it, your pets probably spend a larger percentage of their days laying about, still, so they’re sort of prime for feeling tremors while we’re up and about.